Driving in Europe

Mightyleader

Mightyleader

Member
Hey everyone,
We’re going to go on a trip soon, driving to the south of France. Need to get away for a bit and decompress.
Of course we’ll be driving in my A2, Diane.

I’m looking for wisdom and recommendations on things to do beforehand and during. Here’s my list and progress so far.
Insurance - covered in standard policy.
Breakdown cover - Investigating.
Wheels & Tyres - Just replaced tyres to get to more standard wheel size.
Safety equipment - Ordered vest, triangle etc.
Headlights - Are those sticker-things enough?
Pre-journey maintenance - Definitely need advice on this.
Spares to take? - as above
Your previous experience - What are your stories from longer journeys?

Thanks in advance

Rob
 
I know Tom @timmus frequently takes his car abroad. Pretty sure he could assist you in this, just depends on how busy he is and where he is. I know there will be others that do the same.
 
Might want to take a spare can of tyre seal unless you have a spare wheel, don’t you already have a triangle with the first aid kit?

Are you planning on going anywhere where there is likely to be snow? I’d take a couple of snow socks if so. I drove to Geneva one year but plans changed and decided to add Mont Blanc. Fortunately I was in a 4x4 with all weather tyres but if not I’d rather have that additional security.
 
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Thats one nice A2 you'll be travelling in :)
I'd take spare fuse kit, spare bulbs, and I've been told you have to have a breathalyser for France, not sure how true that is. High vis for each passenger.
Make sure you've got your wheel lock key, wheel brace etc.
 
The Hi Vis must be inside the passenger compartment and not the boot. Ideally one in each door pocket. Have to double up in one if it is a 5 seater with 5 occupants.
 
Hi folks,

I've taken my A2 to Central Europe many times, and have always entered through France.

Mightyleader said:
Headlights - Are those sticker-things enough?
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You're legally obliged not to dazzle oncoming traffic. If that can be achieved with the stickers, then they're all that's required. In reality, the French police will be satisfied if they see you've got them, as it's a clear indication that you've taken appropriate measures. 'Being dazzled' is a subjective thing and cannot be accurately tested at the roadside.

You must have a high-viz jacket for each passenger, and you must be able to reach them without getting out of the car.

You must have your driving licence and your car's V5C.

You must have a GB sticker on the back of your car unless it's already integrated into the rear registration plate.

You must have a warning triangle. One of these was sold with every UK A2. It's part of the meditkit. A meditkit and fire extinguisher are not compulsory.

Bulbs and fuses used to be compulsory, but are no longer.

Sarge said:
I've been told you have to have a breathalyser for France, not sure how true that is.
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It was French law that all cars had to have 2 breathalyser kits that were less than 24 months old, but that law was recently scrapped (which is a good thing, because non-drinkers were forced to buy and then bin unused stuff whilst Mother Nature winced).

Be aware that rural roads in France used to have a speed limit of 90km/h, but that it was reduced to 80km/h within the last 18 months or so. Many speed limit signs still haven't been replaced. If you're not on a motorway and you see a 90km/h sign, interpret it as 80km/h.

Cheers,

Tom
 
Mightyleader said:
Hey everyone,
We’re going to go on a trip soon, driving to the south of France. Need to get away for a bit and decompress.
Of course we’ll be driving in my A2, Diane.

I’m looking for wisdom and recommendations on things to do beforehand and during. Here’s my list and progress so far.
Insurance - covered in standard policy.
Breakdown cover - Investigating.
Wheels & Tyres - Just replaced tyres to get to more standard wheel size.
Safety equipment - Ordered vest, triangle etc.
Headlights - Are those sticker-things enough?
Pre-journey maintenance - Definitely need advice on this.
Spares to take? - as above
Your previous experience - What are your stories from longer journeys?

Thanks in advance

Rob
Click to expand...
Hi Rob,
You needed to be able to change any failed bulb at the side of the road or face a £90.00 fine, so relevant torts bits to gain access to headlights etc, I would also consider taking a spare auxiliary belt with you.
I lost an oil filler cap in the alps one year! But was able to get a replacement from a local Skoda dealer just by giving engine type (worth knowing)
Check coolant concentration is correct,
glass cleaner for bug removal may be required.
Hth
Keith
 
The 80kmh limit was a two year experiment which has now ended. Individual departments can now raise the limit to 90 if they wish. Confusing or what? They claim that it saved 349 lives (not sure how they worked that out) but in my experience, some French drivers are a danger whatever speed they drive at, e.g. over-taking as if they're in a Grand Prix!

Generally, you cannot get normal European breakdown cover if your car is over 15 years old. Classic car cover is an alternative, if you can get it.

RAB
 
Might be worth to note that with those "sticker-things" on, you've got to drive super-carefully, especially on out-of-town B roads.

I found the experience rather unpleasant, as what little light the A2 headlights produce (even with high performance bulbs) is limited even further as well as not being able to see the side of the road, making it basically impossible to see if anything is about to run into it. Would not recommend driver's roads in the dark with the stickers on. (Bonus "ugh" for going from actually-bright high-beams to basically useless dipped beams)
[RHD Headlights with stickers on on UK Snake Pass]

This is (camera does not quite equal eyes, those see a little more depending on recent usage of highbeams) about what you'd get from sticker'd headlights running Philips RacingVision, which is about as bright as "normal" H7 goes.

When going in the summer, I've usually managed to avoid darkness or scrape by with the headlights turned as far down as they will go - not sure how the French see this in comparison to the British though.

vlcsnap-2020-10-05-18h59m11s940.png

This is just before applying the stickers with the headlights tilted all the way down. Notice that the right side (LHD headlights!) goes significantly further than the left one still, so presumably this will still blind oncoming traffic in an RHD country.

Neither is a great option in the end, though I believe only one can be called "advisable" which is the stickers. (I've always wondered how illegal it would be to swap in some headlights corresponding to the correct hand drive RHD/LHD when entering the other country ?)


For a BBY, I would personally bring engine oil as well as a spare ignition coil and the tools to swap in the latter.

(Story) Not worth it to break down for a 15 pound part you could swap in 15 minutes. I've had 2 of them go bust on me out of the blue, first time was ~100€ at the nearby repair shop + a day off work, the second was 35€ in parts and tools and 15 minutes late to work - ever since the first one went I carried a spare and it paid off. (Though neither went on holiday trips - Oil has been a bigger problem for me on those - found the corresponding warning beep fairly scary on my first time abroad, especially when the light comes on every 100km) ?

I can definitely confirm that driving in France is "something else" by the way. Even parking can be dangerous there as I found out last year. ?
 
Seem to recall my contactless card worked fine with the Toll booths. Just make sure you take a passenger with you :)
 
Driving in France with RHD headlights without deflectors would give the French police a field day! The A2 manual tells you what to do so there's no excuse! RHD headlights dip to the left so would dazzle oncoming drivers. It would be perfectly legal to change headlights if you have them but on some cars you have to remove the front of the car to do so!

RAB
 
Hello, I can chip in with some detail about the 90km speed limit. As already mentioned, the two year experiment on reducing the 90k speed limit to 80k has now ended but there was even more confusion following the Gilet Jaune protests.

Speed limits on these roads are now determined by individual regions. Some have decided to reduce the limit to 80km, some have put it back to 90km and some are changeable in weather conditions. In the Correze, for example the limit is now officially 90 km and 80 km in the rain. It's certainly confusing. The only real way of knowing is to check the speed limit sign on entering the region.

When the limits were changed two years ago, the only signs that were changed initially were the ones just before the speed cameras.

Enjoy those empty rural roads

Hilary
 
Seb_Gurkyh said:
Might be worth to note that with those "sticker-things" on, you've got to drive super-carefully, especially on out-of-town B roads.

I found the experience rather unpleasant, as what little light the A2 headlights produce (even with high performance bulbs) is limited even further as well as not being able to see the side of the road, making it basically impossible to see if anything is about to run into it. Would not recommend driver's roads in the dark with the stickers on. (Bonus "ugh" for going from actually-bright high-beams to basically useless dipped beams)
View attachment 70780
This is (camera does not quite equal eyes, those see a little more depending on recent usage of highbeams) about what you'd get from sticker'd headlights running Philips RacingVision, which is about as bright as "normal" H7 goes.

When going in the summer, I've usually managed to avoid darkness or scrape by with the headlights turned as far down as they will go - not sure how the French see this in comparison to the British though.

View attachment 70782
This is just before applying the stickers with the headlights tilted all the way down. Notice that the right side (LHD headlights!) goes significantly further than the left one still, so presumably this will still blind oncoming traffic in an RHD country.

Neither is a great option in the end, though I believe only one can be called "advisable" which is the stickers. (I've always wondered how illegal it would be to swap in some headlights corresponding to the correct hand drive RHD/LHD when entering the other country ?)


For a BBY, I would personally bring engine oil as well as a spare ignition coil and the tools to swap in the latter.

(Story) Not worth it to break down for a 15 pound part you could swap in 15 minutes. I've had 2 of them go bust on me out of the blue, first time was ~100€ at the nearby repair shop + a day off work, the second was 35€ in parts and tools and 15 minutes late to work - ever since the first one went I carried a spare and it paid off. (Though neither went on holiday trips - Oil has been a bigger problem for me on those - found the corresponding warning beep fairly scary on my first time abroad, especially when the light comes on every 100km) ?

I can definitely confirm that driving in France is "something else" by the way. Even parking can be dangerous there as I found out last year. ?
Click to expand...
This is amazing info thank you.
 
Mightyleader said:
Hey everyone,
We’re going to go on a trip soon, driving to the south of France. Need to get away for a bit and decompress.
Of course we’ll be driving in my A2, Diane.

I’m looking for wisdom and recommendations on things to do beforehand and during. Here’s my list and progress so far.
Insurance - covered in standard policy.
Breakdown cover - Investigating.
Wheels & Tyres - Just replaced tyres to get to more standard wheel size.
Safety equipment - Ordered vest, triangle etc.
Headlights - Are those sticker-things enough?
Pre-journey maintenance - Definitely need advice on this.
Spares to take? - as above
Your previous experience - What are your stories from longer journeys?

Thanks in advance

Rob
Click to expand...
Hi Rob,
Just thought of another thing that occurred to us while driving to the south in our Audi 100 V6 after needing to fill up on the autoroute services I went to pay at the kiosk on the forecourt only to find it all shut up, now having put a full 70 Lts in I was really worried about how I could pay !
In the end I went into the shop/cafe & found you could pay in there by just giving the pump number.
I had visions of being arrested at the next toll peace, you can set up a toll token (thingy) which allows you to beat most of the queues & you can pay the next month if the timing is right.
Hth
Keith
 
Be aware that if you trigger a speed camera in France now (and probably everywhere else in the EU) you will get a speeding ticket! I collected two on a trip in December - my first ever! My mistake was not updating my GPS before the trip. On single carriageway roads, there are now two higher limits, 80 and 90km/h. I'm not sure that the 90 to 80km/h points are always marked. Next time I will be checking!

RAB
 
timmus said:
You must have a GB sticker on the back of your car unless it's already integrated into the rear registration plate.
Click to expand...

On or after 28 September 2021​

You will need to display a UK sticker clearly on the rear of your vehicle
Click to expand...

www.gov.uk

Displaying number plates

How to display number or licence plates, get plates made up, replace lost, damaged or stolen plates, and the national letters, flags and symbols you can display.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
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